I asked her the two questions I had about Nutrish nutrition, but both of the responses I received were somewhat disappointing and I get the feeling that the level of training for customer service may be a bit lacking.

Q: Can you tell me the digestibility of the Nutrish products?  

A:  Oh yes, our products are 100% digestible. 

Q: Can you tell me if any feeding trials were conducted with the Nutrish products?

A: The only feeding trials we conduct are putting a bowl in front of the dogs and seeing if they will eat it. My dog loves it.

Oh dear. As someone who is very new to the dog food nutrition discussion I found these overly simplified answers to cause more confusion than comfort in the Nutrish product. While the woman was very pleasant and obviously excited about the product, I got the feeling that she didn’t really understand what I was asking.

On the digestibility point, it’s my understanding that if a dog food has 100% digestibility that means that there is zero poop. Sounds fantastic, but is that really possible and if so, is it healthy? I did a quick google search on “100% dog food digestibility” and found this article at Earth Blend Dog Food. I’m taking it with a grain of salt too cause it’s a dog food brand site but it did reinforce my confusion by saying that 100% digestibility is not possible or healthy. If this is true, I can only assume that the Nutrish woman was trying to reiterate that the dog food is healthy. 

On the feeding trials question, I couldn’t tell if she knew that I was referencing the AAFCO feeding trials but it was a little strange that she clearly said “only” as if to distinguish their approach from something else. 

On the AAFCO topic, I read some new information today on Wikipedia that raised some doubt about the value of AAFCO feeding trials. Apparently the AAFCO standards may be too relaxed. “Generational studies conducted by researchers at University of California, Davis have shown that some foods that pass AAFCO’s feeding trials are still not suitable for long term use and estimated that of 100 foods that pass the nutritional analysis, 10 to 20 would not pass the feeding trials.”

This is all so confusing. What is a loving dog owner with admittedly low aptitude for understanding detailed nutritional requirements (or anything else very scientific) to do? I’ve looked at a lot of sources of information and it seems that everyone has a different opinion. I’d love to find one source that lays it all out clearly. While that may be impossible, I’ll definitely keep looking.

So would I buy it? The jury is still out. I’ve just started reading a few books on dog training and dog nutrition over the last few weeks, so I am by no means a nutritional expert. However, if there is one message that rings out loud and clear in every book I’ve picked up so far, it’s that inexpensive grocery store dog food is pretty much the devil. The fact that it’s available at Walmart and grocery stores around the country makes me leery right off the bat. That may be a bit extreme, but the impression I’ve been left with is that you get what you pay for, and when you pay a little you get a lot of crap. Literally. 

Poor quality dog food is bad for three very compelling reasons:

1. Cost. While lower quality dog foods are cheaper per ounce they also contain fillers, which means you need to feed your dog more to get the nutrients they need. 
2. Behavioral Problems. Dogs that don’t get proper nutrition from their dog food can end up with behavioral problems like chewing, biting, going to the bathroom in the house, and begging. Wouldn’t you feel awful if you were annoyed with your beloved puppy for begging, only to find out that he’s truly starving for nutrients? 
3. More Poop! Lower quality dog foods have lower digestibility, which means more coming out the other end instead of being absorbed and used by the body. One book I’ve been reading (Dogs and Their People by Steve Diller) recommends a minimum of 90% digestibility in dog food. I’m very curious to know what Nutrish’s digestibility is but the website doesn’t say. They do have an 800 number on the site – I’ll try to find out.

OK, I think we get it. Poor quality food is bad. But what is considered good quality? Unfortunately in the dog food industry, there’s no standard definition of “premium”, “super premium”, or even “natural” so you can’t go on that alone. To sort through the mess, the FDA article “Pet Food: The Lowdown on Labels” recommends looking at the life stage claim, the ingredients and the contact info for the manufacturer when evaluating a dog food. The fact that Nutrish offers a phone number on their website is a plus, but they fall short in the life stage claim area. It looks like Nutrish is making their life stage claim based on calculations rather than actual feeding trials – something else I’d like to ask customer service about when I get them on the phone, in addition to how much poop I can expect (ie the digestibility rate)!

In his book The Dog Whisperer, Paul Owens cautions that even though a company advertises a product as “all natural”, short of visiting the manufacturing plant it is difficult/impossible to gauge the quality of the product. Finding a product that is made with USDA human grade food is the optimal commercial dog food solution, but even then he recommends supplementing high quality commercial dog food with raw foods and nutritional supplements. However, if you have the time, Paul says that homemade organic food combined with high quality supplements is really the optimal doggie diet. There’s a lot more to research there, so I’ll plan to follow up with another post to dive into the details of his homemade diet recommendations.

While I work on that, how bout telling me what your doggie’s favorite food is?